The third round of the 2024 F4 Spanish Championship took place at Paul Ricard, where Mattia Colnaghi (KCL by MP Motorsport) finally exploded with two victories, two Pole Positions, and two Fastest Laps. Maciej Gladysz (KCL by MP Motorsport) secured his first victory in F4 while Keanu Al Azhari (MP Motorsport) left France soil increasing his lead.
Starting from Pole in Race 1, Mattia Colnaghi completed a perfect event to claim his first victory in the championship. He made a flawless start, set his pace while his pursuers battled it out, and crossed the finish line with a seven-second lead, securing the Fastest Lap to earn maximum points on Saturday.
Behind him, James Egozi (Campos Racing) achieved his best result of the year. The young Red Bull Junior Team driver started from sixth, climbed to fourth in the opening laps, and capitalized on the issues faced by the leader, Keanu Al Azhari, as he fought for podium positions.
This led to a great battle for the podium spots between Egozi, Ernesto Rivera (Griffin Core by Campos), Maciej Gladysz (MP Motorsport), and Juan Cota (Drivex). After several overtakes, Egozi took second place by passing Juan Cota in the final moments of the race, leaving the Spaniard to settle for third and claim his first podium in the competition.
Maciej Gladysz, Ernesto Rivera, Thomas Strauven (Rodin Motorsport), Matteo Quintarelli (Saintéloc Racing), Nathan Tye (Campos Racing), Tim Gerhards (Monlau Motorsport) with his first points of the year, and Griffin Peebles (MP Motorsport) completed the top 10 of the race.
Unstoppable Colnaghi
Sunday started with the same script as Saturday. Colnaghi started from Pole, set the Fastest Lap, and won with an unbeatable pace, even for championship leader Keanu Al Azhari, who this time secured another podium (his sixth of the year) to strengthen his lead. Maciej Gladysz, finishing third, completed a podium filled with drivers from the Dutch MP Motorsport/KCL by MP Motorsport structure
Behind them, Ernesto Rivera won the battle for fourth place against James Egozi, while Juan Cota confirmed his good form in France with a sixth-place finish. Griffin Peebles, Jan Przyrowski (Griffin Core by Campos), and Thomas Strauven completed the nine points-scoring positions in the short race.
Maciej Gladysz joins the Winners' Club
The third and final race of the weekend at Paul Ricard saw young Polish driver Maciej Gladysz claim his first victory in the championship with a masterclass in defensive driving
James Egozi tried everything in every corner, at Mistral and Signes, but Gładysz was an impenetrable wall for the Italian-American driver
The Red Bull junior couldn’t hold on to second place in his best weekend of the year, with a mature Keanu Al Azhari thinking more and more about the championship, securing the maximum points possible with his seventh podium and saying goodbye to the weekend as an even stronger leader despite his Race 1 retirement
Behind them, two drivers who always put on a show: Ernesto Rivera and Mattia Colnaghi, who swapped their starting positions by the end of the race. Jan Przyrowski finished sixth, overtaking Nathan Tye, Griffin Peebles, and Matteo Quintarelli on track, and also set his first Fastest Lap in F4. The Saintéloc Racing driver finished seventh, Tye eighth, Peebles ninth, and once again, Tim Gerhards closed out the points
Thus, at the conclusion of the third round of the F4 Spanish Championship at Paul Ricard, Keanu Al Azhari leads with 135 points, followed by Mattia Colnaghi with 93 points, now second and the best rookie, and Ernesto Rivera with 86 points. Maciej Gladysz (82) and Thomas Strauven (76) complete the top 5, with Lucas Fluxà (74) dropping out after a pointless weekend. In the team battle, KCL by MP Motorsport takes the lead with 161 points, ahead of MP Motorsport with 155, Griffin Core by Campos with 121, and Campos Racing with 107.
The next event will take place from July 26 to 28, returning to Spanish territory at the Motorland Aragón circuit in Alcañiz.
